Their Paths Were Made of Single Steps
by Cordelia McGonagall
Summary: One-shot fic for Puddlemere United for the Quidditch! Doc Manager promises me this is 1234 characters, which is my prompt (1234 word count). The second is the scene of sitting an exam; the third is the dialogue "I don't do well with snakes." Our team decided to write about Lily Evans, and as Chaser 2, I must write about her in her third year at Hogwarts. Thanks, J.K.R., for all.


Lily grabbed the front of her school robes and shook them to let in some air. The examination room was oppressive, and the humidity from last night's thunderstorm hung in the room and added to her discomfort. Normally, the only part of exam week Lily dreaded was the end of school it signaled, but last night's thunder disrupted her sleep and made her edgy today. She pulled an elastic from her wrist and gathered her hair into a loop at the nape of her neck. Professor Tofty shuffled to the front of the room, his wispy hair clinging damply to his balding head. The students had to put their wands away for their written exams, and they were all staring at the old professor, hoping fervently that he would think to cast a cooling charm over the room. Their third-year Charms exam had just covered these; she could hear several students' whispered attempts to perform one wandlessly or perhaps subliminally suggest it to the only wizard in the room with the power to conjure some relief. Unfortunately, he did not appear to receive their silent pleas, and Lily shared a weary look with Mary Macdonald, who leaned back to put her hair up as well.

Severus was within her line of sight across the room, and he gave her a small smile. Each year, Lily felt more confident in both her magical powers and her friends, but Severus was the first to assure her of her place at Hogwarts, and he never failed to make her feel better. She grinned back. Her private exchange was caught by James Potter, who was leaning over his desk in the back of the room, trying to get the attention of Sirius Black, who was seated alphabetically near the front. She and James swapped cool looks that did nothing to dispel the heat.

"Everyone have a fresh quill and plenty of ink?" Tofty looked up at the slumped students who sluggishly wiggled upright and nodded. "Very good." He flicked his wand, and the exams appeared at each desk. "You may begin."

The Care of Magical Creatures written exam was quite long; Lily had heard that the third-year test was rigorous, and she had studied accordingly. She lost herself in her exam, finding calm in reciting what she had learned and revised. Her focus was broken by a dragging snore coming from the professor, who'd fallen asleep. She looked up to see Sirius Black smirk and many of the other third years frown in distracted annoyance. She sighed and bent her head over her work again.

The quiet scratching of quills and shifting of wooden chair legs on stone was interrupted by the foggy mumbling of Professor Tofty. "Basilisk. Beneath a toad. Cockatrice. Beneath a serpent."

The entire group of students as one raised their heads up. The old wizard was speaking in his sleep. She saw several delighted students bend down to scribble furiously. Puzzled, Lily looked back at her parchment. Scanning down several questions, she saw an elaborate essay prompt at the bottom about basiliks. She frowned and looked up again. Mary was looking at her, eyes wide. They swiveled their heads around the room. Remus Lupin was sitting stiffly, scowling at Sirius, who was chuckling and scrawling lazily. James Potter's eyes flicked to Lily's, but he didn't acknowledge her. He seemed lost in thought, chewing on his lip, his quill down.

The professor snorted again and murmured, "Phoenix tears. Scarlet plume. Male."

Lily's sluggishness from the muggy day was sloughed off. She put her quill down, and before she could plan her actions, she strode up to the front of the room and patted Professor Tofty on the arm.

"Sir. Sir!"

The professor startled awake and blinked at her.

"Sir. You were talking in your sleep. You gave us answers to the Basilisk essay question, sir." Lily could hear the scrape of quills and chairs stop behind her, leaving the silence of a rapt audience. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

"Again? Oh, drat," Tofty sighed. I did that once four years back in Transfiguration. We will mark the tests without that question. Thank you, Miss..."

"Evans," snarled Mulciber. "Lily Evans."

"Yes, thank you, Miss Evans. You may all continue your exams." Professor Tofty sat upright, shaking the sleep from his head. Lily turned back to her seat, carefully selecting where her eyes would go. She searched for Severus who always made her feel better. He was looking at Mulciber, and when Severus met her eyes, he quickly looked away.

Lily swayed for a moment, feeling dizzy. _Her best friend..._ She gathered a shaky breath and focused on walking quickly back to her seat, blinking back tears. Lily felt a hand on her arm, and she looked up at Mary, who nodded reassuringly and shrugged. Lily gave a watery smile to Mary and bent her head down over her parchment again.

She was nervous that she'd not been able to shake off the distraction of ruining the bonus for the third-year Care of Magical Creatures exam, and she lingered over her work, partly to gather her thoughts and partly to avoid as many of her classmates as possible. When she felt she could dread the gauntlet no longer, she dragged her feet up to the front of the room to turn in her exam, her head down to avoid angry words.

"Leave it to Evans to stick her Mudblood nose where it doesn't belong. Keep it up, and you will be on the fast track to sainthood. I just hope I'm there to watch your martryrdom," drawled Mulciber.

Lily jerked her head up and set her jaw. She stared defiantly at his group, Avery staring at her with a hatred that sent a little thrill of fear up her back. She couldn't bear to look at Severus and be rejected again, but her feet were stuck to the floor, and she stood, waiting to absorb the venom from her disappointed classmates.

James Potter's uncharacteristically quiet voice spoke behind her. "Oh, I didn't mind skipping the answer, Mulciber. I don't do well with snakes." Lily turned slowly to look at James, expecting him to be challenging Mulciber. His eyes were instead boring into Severus with a piercing look. "Mary, you should walk your _friend_ back to the dormitory. She looks ill." James jerked his head, and Lily was surprised again to see Sirius fall in line behind James and walk away, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettrigrew shuffling into a trot to follow.

Mary nudged her arm, and Lily followed her toward the Gryffindor dormitories. Halfway down the corridor, they heard the uneven clop of Severus running to catch up.

"Lily, wait. I'm sorry I didn't..."

Mary flipped a scornful scowl at Severus, and her eyebrows shot up when Lily's conflicted face did not echo hers. She shook her head and kept walking, leaving Lily and Severus alone.

Lily looked down at the floor, waiting for the rest of his sentence that didn't come. She looked up at the boy who once was her keeper of keys to this world but was beginning to show her doors that she didn't want to unlock.

"You will get an _O_ anyway, Severus," Lily said, and walked away.


End file.
